'Teen Wolf' Recap: Time of Death

If we weren’t totally on board with the Stiles/Malia ship, we still have to say when the episode opens with Malia spooning Stiles, the image was one of the cutest things so far this season. We were just as disappointed as Stiles when it turned out to be a dream, or at least a distant memory.

Scott and his dad are finally having a heart-to-heart, which would be sweet except it’s Beacon Hills so of course their father-son talk is all about how to deal with the guilt of having killed someone. Mr. McCall knows something is up with Scott and his pack, which honestly, we would really hope. They’re not exactly the greatest at keeping their shenanigans a secret and if Danny, a relatively innocuous teenager, could figure it out, we’d hope that an FBI agent would be all over them.

Speaking of being all over people, Braeden is onto Derek and his current werewolf problem, i.e. losing his powers. Her advice is to learn to fight like he has no supernatural powers, which soon he might not. She tells him, “I’m going to teach you how to bend.” And indeed she does. Well, first she tries to show him how to use a gun but it turns out Derek’s more of a fangs and claws kind of guy. She easily disarms him a couple times before he decides to try out his other powers, those of seduction.

Because Teen Wolf loves to mess with our emotions, we get a flash forward where Scott appears to be dead while Mama McCall screams over her dead son. The façade is quickly dropped when she walks into the morgue and is greeted by Liam, Stiles, Kira and her mom, and Scott’s almost-but-not-quite dead body. The plan is to tell the Benefactor that Scott McCall is dead, but they have no visual evidence. This would hopefully draw the Benefactor out from behind his computer and to the hospital to verify it. For added drama, if he doesn’t get there in 45 minutes, whatever lightning thing Kira does to Scott to put him under, will kill him.

Scott McCall’s dreams, or almost-dead dreams, are not a place we would ever go willingly. While his friends are monitoring the hospital for signs of the Benefactor, Scott’s subconscious is trying to deal with the fact that he sees himself as a murderer. In his disturbing dream, he is told he has to kill the assassins that want to murder his friends. When he doesn’t, he’s forced to watch as Liam is hacked to death by the Mute. Too bad his dreams don't look that different than reality.

In Beacon Hills, instead of making decisions like “Should I ask this person an a date this weekend?” or “Where should I go to college?” you’re forced to choose between the lives of your friends, and the guilt that comes with taking someone else’s life—even an assassin. Scott might be an alpha, but he never seems to be desensitized to all the death. In fact, that's probably what makes him such an excellent alpha.

Malia isn’t answering Stiles’ calls, which is understandable. He was, after all, lying (by omission) to her, about her true parentage. Although to be fair, we’re not sure we’d want to know if Peter were our bio dad. But that’s not the point! The point is lying is bad, especially to your significant other. And there’s no bigger liar than Peter Hale. The notorious liar’s daughter finds her adoption papers in the Hale safe and when Peter walks in on her, he declares, “I gotta buy a better safe.” First, true. Second, it’s bits of humor like this that almost make us want to keep Peter around. Almost.

Lydia’s mom has followed her to her aunt’s house and offers her help. When Lydia pulls out a grainy picture, she quickly identifies the person in the photo as Meredith Walker. Then, out of nowhere, she gives Lydia her grandmother’s ashes. She was meant to spread them around the lake at the house on her 18th birthday. Except those aren’t grandma’s ashes—they’re mountain ash. So it turns out not only was grandma Martin at Eichen House, she was almost certainly a Banshee too.

When they wake Scott up, from the outside it appears that the plan didn’t work, but Scott puts two and two together. Who doesn’t need visual confirmation that someone is dead to know that they are? That’s right, a Banshee. And who are we about 90% sure is/was one and is possibly not dead? Grandma Martin. Dun dun dun.

Next week on Teen Wolf, will Derek ever learn how to use a gun or will he keep relying on the tall, dark, and handsome shtick? Is Lydia’s grandma actually alive? And if so, why would she put out a hit on her own granddaughter?